Systems and methods for measuring effectiveness of marketing and advertising campaigns

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are disclosed for measuring the effectiveness of a marketing and advertising campaign directed at consumers. The systems and methods receive data corresponding to consumers that were served impressions in the campaign, and match the data to identifiers for credit records of the consumers. Credit record activity information in the credit records related to products and services of the campaign can be retrieved and potentially depersonalized. The credit record activity information can be the basis of a campaign report for adjusting and optimizing the campaign, in the case of an in-flight campaign report, or future campaigns, in the case of a post-campaign report. More accurate measurement of the effectiveness of the campaign can be obtained due to linking of a consumer&#39;s activity with the campaign.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/897,652 filed on Oct. 30, 2013, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to marketing and advertisingcampaigns, and more particularly, to systems and methods for measuringthe effectiveness of marketing and advertising campaigns that aredirected at consumers.

BACKGROUND

Campaigns related to the marketing and advertising of products andservices may include traditional aspects, such as direct mailings,billboards, etc., and/or digital aspects, such as banner advertisements,point of sale, social targeting, etc. The marketing and advertisingcampaigns may relate to products and services offered by entities, suchas financial institutions, utility companies, telecommunicationscompanies, and cable television companies, to consumers or smallbusinesses, for example. The products and services may include, forexample, credit or loans (e.g., credit cards, mortgages, lines ofcredit, student loans, automobile loans and leases), underlyingpurchases related to the credit or loans purchasing an automobile orhome), insurance policies, utility accounts, etc. that apply analyticsor data analysis in determining offers and advertisements for theseproducts and services. Measuring the effectiveness of campaigns can helpcontrol the direction and configuration of ongoing, in-flight campaignsand of future campaigns. One way that campaign effectiveness can bemeasured is by measuring responses to the advertisements and offers ofthe campaign. For example, the effectiveness of a digital marketing andadvertising campaign can be measured by the click-through rate of theadvertisements that make up the campaign. The click-through rate denotesthe percentage of people who have clicked on or interacted with anonline advertisement divided by the total number of impressions of theadvertisement, i.e., the number of times the advertisement was served.Each impression may be a single exposure to the campaign, such asthrough a display of an advertisement of the campaign.

However, there are drawbacks to using traditional measurement techniquesfor measuring the effectiveness of traditional or digital marketing andadvertising campaigns. For example, in a digital campaign involving acredit card, an advertisement of the campaign may be served to a personwho clicks on the advertisement, but the person may or may not acceptthe offer related to the credit card. In this situation, theclick-through rate may be skewed upward. Other people may have beenserved and seen the advertisement, but did not click on theadvertisement. However, it is possible that this category of people mayapply for the credit card through other channels, such as by calling orphysically visiting a branch of a financial institution. Although thesepeople were influenced by the campaign, it is difficult to measure thecampaign's effectiveness on them because their offline activity is notdirectly linkable to the campaign. In this situation, the click-throughrate may be skewed downward. As such, the click-through rate in thisexample may be inaccurate and thereby affect the measurement of thecampaign's effectiveness.

Therefore, there exists an opportunity for improved systems and methodsthat can more accurately measure the effectiveness of marketing andadvertising campaigns, in order to, among other things, obtain improvedand optimized management of the marketing and advertising campaigns.

SUMMARY

The invention is intended to solve the above-noted problems by providingsystems and methods for measuring the effectiveness of a marketing andadvertising campaign directed at a plurality of consumers. The systemsand methods are designed to perform one or more of the following, amongother things: (1) receive data corresponding to consumers that wereserved impressions in a marketing and advertising campaign; (2) matchthe data to identifiers for credit records of the consumers in a creditdata database; (3) retrieve, from the credit record, credit recordactivity related to the consumers targeted by the campaign; (4)depersonalize the credit record activity information from the creditrecords; (5) while the campaign is in progress, generate and transmit anin-flight campaign report based on the credit record activityinformation and/or the depersonalized credit record activityinformation; and (6) after the campaign is completed, generate andtransmit a post-campaign report based on the credit record activityinformation and/or the depersonalized credit record activityinformation.

The systems and methods enable improved measurement of the effectivenessof marketing and advertising campaigns by linking impressions ofadvertisements of the campaigns to activities undertaken by consumers.In particular, the measurement of the effectiveness of marketing andadvertising campaigns using these systems and methods is not limited totraditional measurement techniques, such as click-through rate, pixeltracking, landing page activity, tracking numbers, response rates,acceptance rates, etc., but instead can also factor in the activities ofconsumers in the measurement. For example, the activities may includeapplying for credit or loans related to the advertisements, expressinginterest in an automobile purchase related to the advertisements, and/oractivity or a change in the usage of a credit card related to theadvertisements. With respect to digital marketing and advertisingcampaigns, the activities may be through a channel other than clickingthrough advertisements.

In this way, consumers who have been served advertisements of a campaignbut did not directly interact with the advertisements, e.g., byclicking, yet still expressed interest or obtained the products orservices related to the campaign, can be considered in determining thecampaign's effectiveness. In other words, the effectiveness of themarketing and advertising campaign can be measured more accuratelybecause a consumer's activity can be determined and linked to theadvertisements of the campaign that were served to the consumer. Theadvertisements can be interpreted as the impetus for the consumer toperform the activity, e.g., applying for credit at a bank branch,expressing an interest in purchasing an automobile at a car dealer, etc.While a marketing and advertising campaign is in progress, in-flightcampaign reports can be generated based on credit record activity of theconsumer that can be linked to the campaign. This credit record activitymay be retrieved while the campaign is in progress. The in-flightcampaign reports can be utilized to improve and optimize the campaign.This is contrast to current systems that cannot determine the influenceof activities on a campaign while the campaign is in progress. After amarketing and advertising campaign is completed, post-campaign reportscan be generated that can be utilized to improve and optimize futurecampaigns. Such post-campaign reports may be based on credit recordactivity of the consumer that can be linked to the campaign. This creditrecord activity may be retrieved after the campaign is completed. Thecredit record activity may include inquiries, balance changes,tradelines, balances, activations, delinquencies, payments, etc., forexample.

In a particular embodiment, data corresponding to a consumer that wasserved an impression in a marketing and advertising campaign may bereceived. The data may be matchable to an identifier for identifying acredit record of the consumer in a credit data database. Credit recordactivity information can be retrieved from the credit record. A campaignreport can be generated and transmitted based on the credit recordactivity information. The campaign report can be an in-flight campaignreport, if the campaign is in progress, or a post campaign report, ifthe campaign is complete. The credit record activity information can bedepersonalized, in some embodiments, so that the campaign report isbased on depersonalized credit record activity information.

These and other embodiments, and various permutations and aspects, willbecome apparent and be more fully understood from the following detaileddescription and accompanying drawings, which set forth illustrativeembodiments that are indicative of the various ways in which theprinciples of the invention may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary environment formeasuring the effectiveness of a marketing and advertising campaign,including a campaign measurement system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment for measuringthe effectiveness of a marketing and advertising campaign.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating operations for measuring theeffectiveness of a marketing and advertising campaign while the campaignis active.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating operations for measuring theeffectiveness of a marketing and advertising campaign when the campaignis complete.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of one form of a computer or server having amemory element with a computer readable medium for implementing thecampaign measurement system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The description that follows describes, illustrates and exemplifies oneor more embodiments in accordance with their principles. Thisdescription is not provided to limit the embodiments described herein,but rather to explain and teach the principles of the embodiments insuch a way to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to understandthese principles and, with that understanding, be able to apply them topractice not only the embodiments described herein, but also otherembodiments that may come to mind in accordance with these principles.The scope of the embodiments is/are intended to cover all suchembodiments that may fall within the scope of the appended claims,either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.

It should be noted that in the description and drawings, like orsubstantially similar elements may be labeled with the same referencenumerals. However, sometimes these elements may be labeled withdiffering numbers such as, for example, in cases where such labelingfacilitates the didactic purpose of the specification. Additionally, thedrawings set forth herein are not necessarily drawn to scale, and insome instances proportions may have been exaggerated to more clearlydepict certain features. Such labeling and drawing practices do notnecessarily implicate an underlying substantive purpose. As statedabove, the present specification is intended to be taken as a whole andinterpreted in accordance with the principles of the embodiments astaught herein and understood to one of ordinary skill in the art.

With respect to the exemplary systems, components and architecturedescribed and illustrated herein, it should also be understood that theembodiments may be embodied by, or employed in, numerous configurationsand components, including one or more systems, hardware, software, orfirmware configurations or components, or any combination thereof, asunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, while thedrawings illustrate exemplary systems including components for one ormore of the embodiments contemplated herein, it should be understoodthat with respect to each embodiment, one or more components may not bepresent or necessary in the system.

It should also be noted that the disclosures made in this specificationare in accordance with the principles of the embodiments(s), which areintended to be disclosed or interpreted to their broadest extent underthe patent laws, and while such disclosure may describe or otherwisecover subject matter that may be regulated by other existing laws orregulations, including, without limitation, the Fair Credit ReportingAct (FCRA) or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), nothing in thisdisclosure is intended to suggest or imply noncompliance with any suchlaw or regulation by the assignee.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment 100 in which the systems andmethods described herein can be implemented. The environment 100includes a campaign measurement system 102 for measuring theeffectiveness of a marketing and advertising campaign directed at aplurality of consumers. The marketing and advertising campaigns caninclude, for example, traditional marketing and advertising campaignsand/or digital marketing advertising campaigns. Digital marketingadvertising campaigns may include, without limitation, servingimpressions of advertisements through web browsers, mobile applications,and/or videos on computers, mobile electronic devices, and/oraddressable devices (e.g., cable and satellite set-top boxes and/ortelevisions), for example. The campaigns can be related to any productsand services. In some embodiments, the campaign measurement system 102may be operated by an entity, such as a credit bureau 101, that canaccess credit-related data in a credit data database 104. Thecredit-related data may include credit header data, such as identifyinginformation for a plurality of targeted consumers, including names,dates of birth, identification numbers social security numbers, nationalidentification numbers, etc.), street addresses, cities, states, zipcodes, telephone numbers, account numbers (e.g., credit card accountnumbers, loan account numbers, etc.), and/or other identifyinginformation. In some embodiments, the credit-related data may includehistorical data for the identifying information, such as previousaddresses, telephone numbers, names, etc. and/or historical data forcredit activity, such as balance history, payment history, etc. Thecredit-related data in the credit data database 104 may be maintained bythe credit bureau, for example. In some embodiments, the credit-relateddata in the credit data database 104 may include data sourced ororiginated from a credit bureau, a credit reporting agency, and/oranother entity. The credit data database 104 may include data availableto consumers, proprietary data, and/or other types of data.

The campaign measurement system 102 may utilize data corresponding toconsumers who have been served impressions in the marketing andadvertising campaign. The data may be matchable to identifiers foridentifying credit records of the consumers in the credit data database104. The data may include, for example, keys received from a data mart152, a media partner 154, and/or an advertiser 156. The impressions mayinclude the display of advertisements of the marketing and advertisingcampaign that have been targeted to the consumers. In some embodiments,the consumers may have been targeted based on data gleaned from theonline activity of the consumers. The data may be received periodicallyby the campaign measurement system 102 while the marketing andadvertising campaign is in progress, in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the keys may have been originally assigned andcreated by a matching system 108 that is in communication with thecampaign measurement system 102. The matching system 108 may compare andmatch offline data and online data with credit-related data to identifymatching targeted consumers, for example, and store the keys in a keydatabase 106. Embodiments of a matching system 108 are disclosed in acommonly-assigned non-provisional application filed on Mar. 15, 2013,titled “Systems and Methods for Targeted Internet Marketing Based onOffline, Online, and Credit-Related Data” (U.S. Ser. No. 13/841,022),which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In otherembodiments, the keys may have been generated by other entities.

When the campaign measurement system 102 receives the data correspondingto consumers who have been served impressions in the campaign, the datamay be matched by the campaign measurement system 102 to an identifierof the consumer. The identifier may be a unique identifier of a creditrecord of the consumer in the credit data database 104. Using theidentifier, the credit record can be retrieved from the credit datadatabase 104 so that the campaign measurement system 102 can retrievecredit record activity in the credit record. The credit record activitymay be related to a product or service being marketed in the marketingand advertising campaign and/or related to the consumers being marketedto by the campaign. The credit record activity may include, for example,inquiries, balance changes, tradelines, balances, activations,delinquencies, payments, etc. Some inquiries may be a consumer databaseinquiry, such as an FCRA-related inquiry (e.g., credit cards, loans,etc.), a fraud inquiry, an identity management verification, etc.FCRA-related inquiries may include, for example, FCRA consumer reportinquiries and GLBA (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) fraud and collection reportinquiries. The campaign measurement system 102 may also store thematched identifier in a database for later use after the marketing andadvertising campaign is completed, in some embodiments.

The credit record activity may be directly or indirectly related to theproducts or services being marketed in the marketing and advertisingcampaign. Directly related credit record activity may include activitythat is for a product or service that is the subject of the marketingand advertising campaign. The product or service is offered by theadvertiser 156 running the marketing and advertising campaign. Forexample, a consumer may have applied for a credit card of a financialinstitution that was the subject of an advertisement of the marketingand advertising campaign. As another example, a consumer may haveactivated the credit card that was the subject of an advertisement ofthe marketing and advertising campaign.

Indirectly related credit record activity may include activity that isfor a product or service that of a type related to the product orservice that is the subject of the marketing and advertising campaign.The product or service associated with indirectly related credit recordactivity is not the product or service that is itself the subject of thecampaign, and may be offered by the advertiser 156 running the campaignor may be offered by another entity unrelated to the advertiser 156. Forexample, a consumer may have applied for a credit card of anotherfinancial institution other than the financial institution that isrunning the marketing and advertising campaign. As another example, aconsumer may have applied for a different credit card from the financialinstitution that is running the marketing and advertising campaign,rather than the specific credit card that is the subject of anadvertisement of the campaign. As a further example, a consumer may becarrying a balance on a credit card of another financial institutionother than the financial institution that is running the marketing andadvertising campaign. In some embodiments, the indirectly related creditrecord activity may be analyzed if the credit record activity is withina certain time period after the impression was served.

Information related to the credit record activity can be retrieved bythe campaign measurement system 102 from the credit record. The creditrecord activity information may include identifying information of theconsumer, date of the credit record activity, entity the consumer isrequesting credit from, and/or other information related to the creditrecord activity. In some embodiments, the campaign measurement system102 can depersonalize the credit record activity information andgenerate depersonalized credit record activity information that does notinclude identifying information of the consumer. The depersonalizedcredit record activity information may be organized by demographics,geography (e.g., ZIP+4), and/or other criteria.

Based on the credit record activity information and/or thedepersonalized credit record activity information, the campaignmeasurement system 102 may generate a campaign report. The campaignreport may be used to adjust, improve, and optimize a marketing andadvertising campaign that is in progress or future campaigns. In someembodiments, the campaign report generated by the campaign measurementsystem 102 is an in-flight campaign report that is used when themarketing and advertising campaign is open and in progress. An in-flightcampaign report may be transmitted from the campaign measurement system102 to a media partner 154 that executes and optimizes marketing andadvertising campaigns. The media partner 154 may execute and optimizethe marketing and advertising campaigns on behalf of an advertiser 156that is marketing products and services to consumers. In someembodiments, the in-flight campaign report may be transmitted from thecampaign measurement system 102 to other entities, such as theadvertiser 156. The media partner 154 and/or the advertiser 156 mayutilize the in-flight campaign report to adjust, improve, and optimizethe marketing and advertising campaign while the campaign is inprogress. Such optimizations may include changes to the offers, pricing,product offerings, placement of advertisements, and/or otheradjustments. The in-flight campaign reports may be generatedperiodically by the campaign measurement system 102 while the marketingand advertising campaign is in progress.

In other embodiments, the campaign report generated by the campaignmeasurement system 102 is a post-campaign report that is used after themarketing and advertising campaign is complete. The post-campaign reportmay be transmitted from the campaign measurement system 102 to the mediapartner 154, the advertiser 156, and/or other entities. The mediapartner 154 and/or the advertiser 156 may utilize the post-campaignreport to adjust, improve, and optimize future marketing and advertisingcampaign. Such optimizations may include changes to the offers, pricing,product offerings, placement of advertisements, and/or other adjustmentsto future campaigns. The post-campaign reports may be generatedperiodically by the campaign measurement system 102 after the marketingand advertising campaign is complete.

The credit record activity used for the post-campaign report can beretrieved from the credit records of the consumers, following thecompletion of the marketing and advertising campaign. The credit recordsmay be identified by matched identifiers that had been previouslystored, for example, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, the creditrecords may also be identified based on a list of identifiers receivedby the campaign measurement system 102 from the media partner 154 and/orthe advertiser 156. The list of identifiers may correspond to consumerswho have been served an impression and/or consumers who clicked on anadvertisement. The list of identifiers may also include activity relatedto the impression, such as the date and time the impression was servedor the date and time the advertisement was clicked on. In someembodiments, credit records for the in-flight campaign report can beidentified based on a list of identifiers from the media partner 154and/or the advertiser 156, as described above.

The credit record activity used as the basis of the campaign reports maybe complete, as in situations where all the credit record activity is inone credit bureau or credit reporting agency, or may be incomplete, asin situations where the credit record activity is in multiple creditbureaus or credit reporting agencies. Incomplete credit record activitymay exist, for example, when a credit bureau or credit reporting agencyis not the primary one used by a financial institution. The campaignmeasurement system 102 can generate the campaign reports based oncomplete or incomplete credit record activity. In particular, in thecase where the campaign measurement system 102 has incomplete creditrecord activity of a consumer, the campaign reports can be generatedbased on extrapolations from this incomplete credit record activity. Assuch, the effectiveness of marketing and advertising campaigns can stillbe measured even if complete credit record activity is not available.

It should be noted that the data mart 152, the media partner 154, andthe advertiser 156 may be in communication with respective databases153, 155, and 157. The databases 153, 155, and 157 may store data andinformation related to the marketing and advertising campaigns, targetedconsumers, and/or other data and information. Various componentsincluded in the environment 100 may be implemented using softwareexecutable by one or more servers or computers, such as a computingdevice with a processor 502 and memory 504 as shown in FIG. 5, which isdescribed in more detail below.

As an example of the usage of the campaign measurement system 102 in theenvironment 100, FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary flowchart for measuringthe effectiveness of a marketing and advertising campaign. A financialinstitution may run a marketing and advertising campaign withadvertisements offering a credit card from the financial institution.Advertisements of the marketing and advertising campaign may be servedto targeted consumers who have corresponding keys that have beenpreviously generated by a credit bureau or credit reporting agency, suchas by a matching system, for example, as indicated by box 202. The keysmay be passed to a data mart where offline data is matched to onlineidentifiers based on the keys, as indicated by box 204. The onlineidentifiers may include, for example, cookies, device identifiers,publisher data, pixel tags, anonymous identifiers for advertising,and/or other types of identifiers. A population of targeted consumersmay be passed from the data mart to the media partner. In someembodiments, the population may be segmented by demographics, geography,and/or other criteria. The marketing and advertising campaign maysubsequently be executed by a media partner, as indicated by box 206, sothat the consumers are served impressions of the advertisements of themarketing and advertising campaign.

In one embodiment, when a targeted consumer has been served animpression of an advertisement, the media partner may report the onlineidentifiers, e.g., cookies, that have been served impressions to thedata mart. The data mart may determine the keys associated with thecampaign, as indicated by box 208. They keys associated with thecampaign may include the keys that were served impressions, based on theonline identifiers received from the media partner, and/or keys notserved impressions. In some embodiments, the media partner pixelscookies (e.g., fires a pixel to identify which cookie has receivedimpressions and identifies the cookies), and reports the impressionsfrom the pixel process so that they keys can be determined by the datamart. In another embodiment, when a targeted consumer has been served animpression of an advertisement, the media partner may report the keysthat have been served impressions to the campaign measurement system atthe credit bureau or credit reporting agency.

The campaign measurement system may match the keys from the data martand/or the media partner to identifiers of the corresponding consumers,as indicated by box 210. The identifiers may uniquely identify thecredit records of the corresponding consumers in the credit datadatabase. If the marketing and advertising campaign is in progress, thecredit record activity in the credit record of the consumer (as lookedup by the identifier) can be used to generate an in-flight campaignreport, as indicated by box 212. The credit record activity may be thatthe consumer applied for the credit card that was the subject of theadvertisement, and that the consumer applied for the credit card overthe phone. The credit record activity may have been depersonalized(prior to generating the in-flight campaign report. The in-flightcampaign report may be received by the media partner, as indicated bybox 216, so that the media partner and/or the financial institution canadjust, improve, and optimize the marketing and advertising campaignwhile it is in progress, as indicated by box 217. The adjusted campaigncan then be executed, as indicated by box 206.

If the marketing and advertising campaign is complete, the credit recordactivity in the credit record of the consumer can be used to generate apost-campaign report, as indicated by box 214. The post-campaign reportmay be based on credit record activity that is retrieved after thecampaign is complete. The credit record activity may be that theconsumer is carrying a balance on the credit card, which indicates thatthe consumer activated the credit card. The credit record activity mayhave been depersonalized prior to generating the post-campaign report.The post-campaign report may be received by the media partner, asindicated by box 218, so that the media partner and/or the financialinstitution can analyze the post-campaign report to adjust, improve, andoptimize future marketing and advertising campaigns, as indicated by box219.

An embodiment of a process 300 for measuring the effectiveness of amarketing and advertising campaign while the campaign is active is shownin FIG. 3, in accordance with one or more principles of the invention.The process 300 may result in the generation and transmission of anin-flight campaign report. The in-flight campaign report may be utilizedby a media partner and/or advertiser, for example, to adjust, improve,and optimize the marketing and advertising campaign while the campaignis in progress. The campaign measurement system 102 may perform all orpart of the process 300, and the process 300 can utilize the credit datadatabase 104 and/or the key database 106.

At step 302, data corresponding to consumers associated with thecampaign, such as consumers that were served impressions ofadvertisements in the campaign, may be received. The data may be matchedto identifiers of credit records of these consumers. The data mayinclude keys that were originally assigned and created by a matchingsystem that has compared and matched offline data and online data withcredit-related data to identify matching targeted individuals, forexample. The data received at step 302 can be matched to identifiersthat uniquely identify a credit record of the consumer in the creditdata database, at step 304. The matched identifiers can be stored atstep 306 for later usage after the marketing and advertising campaign iscompleted, as described with reference to FIG. 4.

At step 308, information related to the credit record activity can beretrieved from the credit record. The credit record activity may bedirectly or indirectly related to the product or service being marketedin the marketing and advertising campaign. The credit record activityinformation may include identifying information of the consumer, date ofthe credit record activity, amount of the credit record activity, entitythe consumer is requesting credit from, and/or other information relatedto the credit record activity. The credit record activity informationcan be optionally depersonalized at step 310 to create depersonalizedcredit record activity information that does not include identifyinginformation of the consumers. At step 312, an in-flight campaign reportmay be generated, and the in-flight campaign report may be transmittedat step 314. The in-flight campaign report may be transmitted to a mediapartner and/or advertiser for adjusting, improving, and optimizing themarketing and advertising campaign while the campaign is in progress,for example. The in-flight campaign report may be based on the creditrecord activity information and/or the depersonalized credit recordactivity information.

An embodiment of a process 400 for measuring the effectiveness of amarketing and advertising campaign when the campaign is complete isshown in FIG. 4, in accordance with one or more principles of theinvention. The process 400 may result in the generation and transmissionof a post-campaign report. The post-campaign report may be utilized by amedia partner and/or advertiser, for example, to adjust, improve, andoptimize future marketing and advertising campaigns. The campaignmeasurement system 102 may perform all or part of the process 400, andthe process 400 can utilize the credit data database 104 and/or the keydatabase 106.

At step 402, identifiers corresponding to consumers may be received. Theidentifiers can be used to then retrieve the credit records of thecorresponding consumers in the credit data database. The receivedidentifiers may have been matched to keys (and consumers) servedimpressions in the marketing and advertising campaign, and/or may bematched to keys (and consumers) who clicked on an advertisement of thecampaign. At step 404, information related to the credit record activitycan be retrieved from the credit record. The credit record activity mayinclude identifying information of the consumer, start date of thecredit record activity, credit limit of the credit record activity,entity the consumer is requesting credit from, and/or other informationrelated to the credit record activity.

The credit record activity information can be optionally depersonalizedat step 406 to create depersonalized credit record activity informationthat does not include identifying information of the consumers. At step408, a post-campaign report may be generated, and the post-campaignreport may be transmitted at step 410. The post-campaign report may betransmitted to a media partner and/or advertiser for adjusting,improving, and optimizing future marketing and advertising campaigns.The post-campaign report may be based on the credit record activityinformation and/or the depersonalized credit record activityinformation.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computing device 500 housing executablesoftware used to facilitate the campaign measurement system 102. One ormore instances of the computing device 500 may be utilized to implementany, some, or all of the components in the system 102. Computing device500 includes a memory element 504. Memory element 504 may include acomputer readable medium for implementing the system 102, and forimplementing particular system transactions. Memory element 504 may alsobe utilized to implement the credit data database 104 and the keydatabase 106. Computing device 500 also contains executable software,some of which may or may not be unique to the system 102.

In some embodiments, the system 102 is implemented in software, as anexecutable program, and is executed by one or more special or generalpurpose digital computer(s), such as a mainframe computer, a personalcomputer (desktop, laptop or otherwise), personal digital assistant, orother handheld computing device. Therefore, computing device 500 may berepresentative of any computer in which the system 102 resides orpartially resides.

Generally, in terms of hardware architecture as shown in FIG. 5,computing device 500 includes a processor 502, a memory 504, and one ormore input and/or output (I/O) devices 506 (or peripherals) that arecommunicatively coupled via a local interface 508. Local interface 508may be one or more buses or other wired or wireless connections, as isknown in the art. Local interface 508 may have additional elements,which are omitted for simplicity, such as controllers, buffers (caches),drivers, transmitters, and receivers to facilitate externalcommunications with other like or dissimilar computing devices. Further,local interface 508 may include address, control, and/or dataconnections to enable internal communications among the other computercomponents.

Processor 502 is a hardware device for executing software, particularlysoftware stored in memory 504. Processor 502 can be any custom made orcommercially available processor, such as, for example, a Core series orvPro processor made by Intel Corporation, or a Phenom, Athlon or Sempronprocessor made by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. In the case wherecomputing device 500 is a server, the processor may be, for example, aXeon or Itanium processor from Intel, or an Opteron-series processorfrom Advanced Micro Devices, Inc, Processor 502 may also representmultiple parallel or distributed processors working in unison.

Memory 504 can include any one or a combination of volatile memoryelements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM,etc.)) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, flashdrive, CDROM, etc.). It may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical,and/or other types of storage media. Memory 504 can have a distributedarchitecture where various components are situated remote from oneanother, but are still accessed by processor 502. These other componentsmay reside on devices located elsewhere on a network or in a cloudarrangement.

The software in memory 504 may include one or more separate programs.The separate programs comprise ordered listings of executableinstructions for implementing logical functions. In the example of FIG.5, the software in memory 504 may include the system 102 in accordancewith the invention, and a suitable operating system (O/S) 512. Examplesof suitable commercially available operating systems 512 are Windowsoperating systems available from Microsoft Corporation, Mac OS Xavailable from Apple Computer, Inc., a Unix operating system from AT&T,or a Unix-derivative such as BSD or Linux. The operating system O/S 512will depend on the type of computing device 500. For example, if thecomputing device 500 is a PDA or handheld computer, the operating system512 may be iOS for operating certain devices from Apple Computer, Inc.,PalmOS for devices from Palm Computing, Inc., Windows Phone 8 fromMicrosoft Corporation, Android from Google, Inc., or Symbian from NokiaCorporation. Operating system 512 essentially controls the execution ofother computer programs, such as the system 102, and providesscheduling, input-output control, file and data management, memorymanagement, and communication control and related services.

If computing device 500 is an IBM PC compatible computer or the like,the software in memory 504 may further include a basic input outputsystem (BIOS). The BIOS is a set of essential software routines thatinitialize and test hardware at startup, start operating system 512, andsupport the transfer of data among the hardware devices. The BIOS isstored in ROM so that the BIOS can be executed when computing device 500is activated.

Steps and/or elements, and/or portions thereof of the invention may beimplemented using a source program, executable program (object code),script, or any other entity comprising a set of instructions to beperformed. Furthermore, the software embodying the invention can bewritten as (a) an object oriented programming language, which hasclasses of data and methods, or (b) a procedural programming language,which has routines, subroutines, and/or functions, for example but notlimited to, C, C++, C#, Pascal, Basic, Fortran, Cobol, Perl, Java, Ada,Python, and Lua. Components of the system 102 may also be written in aproprietary language developed to interact with these known languages.

I/O device 506 may include input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, ascanner, a microphone, a touch screen, a bar code reader, or aninfra-red reader, it may also include output devices such as a printer,a video display, an audio speaker or headphone port or a projector. I/Odevice 506 may also comprise devices that communicate with inputs oroutputs, such as a short-range transceiver (RFID, Bluetooth, etc.), atelephonic interface, a cellular communication port, a router, or othertypes of network communication equipment. I/O device 506 may be internalto computing device 500, or may be external and connected wirelessly orvia connection cable, such as through a universal serial bus port.

When computing device 500 is in operation, processor 502 is configuredto execute software stored within memory 504, to communicate data to andfrom memory 504, and to generally control operations of computing device500 pursuant to the software. The system 102 and operating system 512,in whole or in part, may be read by processor 502, buffered withinprocessor 502, and then executed.

In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” may be anymeans that can store, communicate, propagate, or transport data objectsfor use by or in connection with the system 102. The computer readablemedium may be for example, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device,propagation medium, or any other device with similar functionality. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readablemedium would include the following: an electrical connection(electronic) having one or more wires, a random access memory (RAM)(electronic), a read-only memory (ROM) (electronic), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory)(electronic an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compact discread-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that the computer-readablemedium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which theprogram is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via,for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, thencompiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner ifnecessary, and stored in a computer memory. The system 102 can beembodied in any type of computer-readable medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system or apparatus, such as acomputer.

For purposes of connecting to other computing devices, computing device500 is equipped with network communication equipment and circuitry. In apreferred embodiment, the network communication equipment includes anetwork card such as an Ethernet card, or a wireless connection card. Ina preferred network environment, each of the plurality of computingdevices 500 on the network is configured to use the Internet protocolsuite (TCP/IP) to communicate with one another. It will be understood,however, that a variety of network protocols could also be employed,such as IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi, address resolution protocol ARP,spanning-tree protocol STP, or fiber-distributed data interface FDDI. Itwill also be understood that while a preferred embodiment of theinvention is for each computing device 500 to have a broadband orwireless connection to the Internet (such as DSL, Cable, Wireless, T-1,T-3, OC3 or satellite, etc.), the principles of the invention are alsopracticable with a dialup connection through a standard modem or otherconnection means. Wireless network connections are also contemplated,such as wireless Ethernet, satellite, infrared, radio frequency,Bluetooth, near field communication, and cellular networks.

Any process descriptions Or blocks in figures should be understood asrepresenting modules, segments, or portions of code which include one ormore executable instructions for implementing specific logical functionsor steps in the process, and alternate implementations are includedwithin the scope of the embodiments of the invention in which functionsmay be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, includingsubstantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on thefunctionality involved, as would be understood by those having ordinaryskill in the art.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of theinvention, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are possibleexamples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understandingof the principles of the invention. Many variations and modificationsmay be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the inventionwithout substantially departing from the spirit and principles of theinvention. All such modifications are intended to be included hereinwithin the scope of this disclosure and the invention and protected bythe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for measuring an effectiveness of adigital marketing and advertising campaign directed at a plurality ofconsumers, the method comprising: in response to an impressioncomprising a display of a digital advertisement of the digital marketingand advertising campaign being served to one of the plurality ofconsumers, receiving, at a computer server including a processor, datathat is matchable to an identifier for identifying a credit record ofthe one of the plurality of consumers in a credit data database storedin a credit bureau, wherein: the data comprises a key corresponding tothe one of the plurality of consumers that was served the impression,the computer server is associated with the credit bureau to allow thecredit bureau to measure the effectiveness of the digital marketing andadvertising campaign, the digital marketing and advertising campaign isdirected to an asset, the digital marketing and advertising campaignincludes digital advertisements, the displayed digital advertisementincludes an offer directed to the one of the plurality of consumersserved the impression, the displayed digital advertisement is selectableby the one of the plurality of consumers served the impression, and theasset is a product or a service that is a subject of the digitalmarketing and advertising campaign; retrieving, via the processor andbased on the identifier, credit record activity information from thecredit record of the one of the plurality of consumers served theimpression from the credit data database, wherein: the credit recordactivity information is a subset of the credit record, the credit recordincludes data related to online activity associated with the one of theplurality of consumers served the impression and data related to offlineactivity associated with the one of the plurality of consumers servedthe impression, the offline activity associated with the one of theplurality of consumers is related to the asset that the digitalmarketing and advertising campaign is directed to, and the credit recordactivity information is determined following the offline activityassociated with the one of the plurality of consumers and following theserving of the impression; generating, via the processor, a campaignreport based on the credit record activity information, the campaignreport comprising information for measuring the effectiveness of thedigital marketing and advertising campaign; and transmitting, via theprocessor, the campaign report.
 2. The method of claim 1: furthercomprising depersonalizing, via the processor, the retrieved creditrecord activity information to generate, via the processor,depersonalized credit record activity information; wherein thegenerating of the campaign report comprises generating, via theprocessor, the campaign report based on the depersonalized credit recordactivity information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein: receiving thedata comprises: receiving the key at the processor; and matching, viathe processor, the key to the identifier.
 4. The method of claim 3,further comprising storing, via the processor, the identifier in adatabase when the key matches the identifier.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein: the generating of the campaign report comprises generating, viathe processor, an in-flight campaign report based on the credit recordactivity information while the digital marketing and advertisingcampaign is in progress; and the transmitting of the campaign reportcomprises transmitting the in-flight campaign report from the computerserver associated with the credit bureau.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the retrieving of the credit record activity informationcomprises retrieving, via the processor, the credit record activityinformation while the digital marketing and advertising campaign is inprogress.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein: the generating of thecampaign report comprises generating, via the processor, a post-campaignreport based on the credit record activity information after the digitalmarketing and advertising campaign is completed; and the transmitting ofthe campaign report comprises transmitting the post-campaign report fromthe computer server associated with the credit bureau.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the retrieving of the credit record activityinformation comprises retrieving, via the processor, the credit recordactivity information after the digital marketing and advertisingcampaign is completed.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the offlineactivity associated with the one of the plurality of consumers isdirectly related to the asset that the digital marketing and advertisingcampaign is directed to.
 10. A system for measuring an effectiveness ofa digital marketing and advertising campaign directed at a plurality ofconsumers, the system comprising: a processor in communication with anetwork; a memory in communication with the processor, the memory forstoring a plurality of instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to: responsive to an impressioncomprising a display of a digital advertisement of the digital marketingand advertising campaign being served to one of the plurality ofconsumers, receive data that is matchable to an identifier foridentifying a credit record of the one of the plurality of consumers ina credit data database comprising credit-related data for the pluralityof consumers that is stored in a credit bureau, wherein: the datacomprises a key corresponding to one of the plurality of consumers thatwas served the impression, the digital marketing and advertisingcampaign is directed to an asset, the digital marketing and advertisingcampaign includes digital advertisements, the displayed digitaladvertisement includes an offer directed to the one of the plurality ofconsumers served the impression, the displayed digital advertisement isselectable by the one of the plurality of consumers served theimpression, and the asset is a product or a service that is a subject ofthe digital marketing and advertising campaign; retrieve, based on theidentifier, credit record activity information from the credit record ofthe one of the plurality of consumers from the credit data databasewherein: the credit record activity information is a subset of thecredit record, the credit record includes data related to onlineactivity associated with the one of the plurality of consumers servedthe impression and data related to offline activity associated with theone of the plurality of consumer served the impression, the offlineactivity associated with the one of the plurality of consumers isrelated to the asset that the digital marketing and advertising campaignis directed to, and the credit record activity information is determinedfollowing the offline activity associated with the one of the pluralityof consumers and following the serving of the impression; generate acampaign report based on the credit record activity information, thecampaign report comprising information for measuring the effectivenessof the digital marketing and advertising campaign; and transmit thecampaign report.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein when executed bythe processor, the plurality of instructions cause the processor to:generate depersonalized credit record activity information bydepersonalizing the credit record activity information; and generate thecampaign report by generating the campaign report based on thedepersonalized credit record activity information.
 12. The system ofclaim 10, wherein when executed by the processor, the plurality ofinstructions cause the processor to receive the data by: receiving thekey; and matching the key to the identifier.
 13. The system of claim 12,further comprising a database, wherein when executed by the processor,the plurality of instructions cause the processor to store theidentifier in the database when the key matches the identifier.
 14. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein when executed by the processor, theplurality of instructions cause the processor to: generate the campaignreport by generating an in-flight campaign report based on the creditrecord activity information while the digital marketing and advertisingcampaign is in progress; and transmit the campaign report bytransmitting the in-flight campaign report.
 15. The system of claim 10,wherein when executed by the processor, the plurality of instructionscause the processor to retrieve the credit record activity informationby retrieving the credit record activity information while the digitalmarketing and advertising campaign is in progress.
 16. The system ofclaim 10, wherein when executed by the processor, the plurality ofinstructions cause the processor to: generate the campaign report bygenerating a post-campaign report based on the credit record activityinformation after the digital marketing and advertising campaign iscompleted; and transmit the campaign report by transmitting thepost-campaign report.
 17. The system of claim 10, wherein when executedby the processor, the plurality of instructions cause the processor toretrieve the credit record activity information by retrieving the creditrecord activity information after the digital marketing and advertisingcampaign is completed.
 18. The system of claim 10, wherein the offlineactivity associated with the one of the plurality of consumers isdirectly related to the asset that the digital marketing and advertisingcampaign is directed to.